Face the Music
by JA Baker
Summary: Sequel to Out of Love for You: After he kisses Rommie at an important FTA function, Dylan must face up to his feelings for his ship’s Avatar once and for all...
1. Lady in red

Note: this story is not really set at any point during Andromeda; it's just my "Dylan and Rommie get together" story. But please bear in mind that I've only seen the first series (I'm going to start collecting the series 2 DVD's when I next get paid).  
  
Face the Music  
  
Beka walked along the line the assembled crew had gotten into: Dylan had for once forgone his High Guard uniform, and was wearing a Tuxedo. Harper was wearing a suit that had probably been in fashion a decade before. Tyr was dressed in a surprisingly well-cut suit that he claimed had been a gift from a previous employer. Trance looked stunning in a floral-dress that seemed to complement her purple skin perfectly.  
  
Beka took a moment to check her own dress in the mirror: the midnight blue gown fitted her perfectly, but considering how much she had paid for it, it should. She turned to the others, "Ok, remember: this is the FTA annual dinner and dance. It is a hugely important event, and the fact that we have been invited says something about Dylan's planes to re-form the Commonwealth. So everyone is to be on his or her best behaviour. And has anyone seen Rommie?"  
  
"Here I am." Came a voice from behind her. Beka span round, "It's about time." she gasped as she saw what Rommie was wearing: the long silk dress was a dark shade of red that set off Rommie's hair perfectly. It was tight and loose in all the right places, and fitted the Avatar perfectly. She looked simple stunning.  
  
Harper was the first to get his voice back, "Wow! Rommie, where did you get THAT?" Rommie looked down at the dress, "This? I made it. Why, is something wrong?" she looked worried. Harper was almost drooling, "No! No, it's, it's perfect!" Rommie smiled sweetly, "Thank you Harper. You look very nice yourself." Beka regained control of her voice, "Ok, let's go!" as the crew filed through the airlock, Rommie stopped by a computer display. The main AI appeared, "Have fun."  
  
Rommie smiled, "Don't wait up." 


	2. The Kiss

Face the Music, part 2  
  
The ballroom was lavishly decorated, and a uniformed waiter led the Andromeda's crew to a table near the dance floor. Beka's eyes darted around the room, "I wonder where Sid is?" Trance looked nervous, "Well, I for one hope we don't run into him." Beka nodded, "I second that!"  
  
The meal started, and Rommie sat quietly as the other ate. It was times like this that her being an android was difficult. She could see people pointing at her and talking quietly. She felt like an attraction at a freak show. Several FTA officials stopped by to talk to Dylan about the Commonwealth, and what it would mean for trade. Friends and acquaintances of Beka stopped to catch up on old times. Several shady looking characters asked Tyr if he still worked freelance, to which the Nietzschean refused to comment. Even Trance and Harper knew people to talk to, but Rommie was alone.  
  
The meal ended, and the band started playing. Several couples took to the dance floor and glided gracefully around. Dylan saw how miserable Rommie was, and offered her his hand, "May I have this dance?" Rommie's eyes sparkled, "I'd be honoured." She smiled as Dylan led her to the dance floor. The band struck-up a slow waltz, and they began. Rommie's dancing was technically perfect, but was too ridged. Dylan sighed, "Rommie, you have to relax. Move to the music, not the proper dance steps." Rommie smiled, "I'll try: I've never danced before." she admitted.  
  
The rest of the crew watched as Rommie slowly relaxed in Dylan's arms. Tyr shook his head, "It's going to happen." Trance was confused, "What going to happen?" Beka laughed, "Give them a few minuets, and then you'll see." Harper sighed and finished his drink, "Can anyone say Pax Magellanic?" Trance was taken aback, "You mean Dylan and Rommie." Beka looked at the young alien, "For someone who can be so amazingly perceptive at times, you're as blind as a Nightsider!"  
  
The waltz ended, and the band struck up a tango. The crew watched as Dylan and Rommie danced ever closer and closer, never braking eye contact. As the tango neared the end, Harper looked at his watch, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, now!" On cue, Dylan leaned forward and kissed Rommie. The Avatar's eyes closed as she savoured the felling of Dylan's lips on her own. Her mind raced at a speed even grater than normal. She knew that this was the point of no return: that from now on, her relationship with her captain was changed forever. In truth, she didn't care.  
  
Suddenly, Rommie broke away from Dylan. It looked like she was going to say something, but instead she ran from the room. Dylan blinked, and ran after her.  
  
TBC. 


	3. Unrequited love

Face the Music, part 3  
  
Dylan chased the fleeing Rommie out of the main building and into the gardens beyond. He lost sight of her as she entered a maze, but continued to call out to her, "Rommie! Look, Rommie, we need to talk, ok?" A voice to his right called back, "What's to talk about? I'm going to end up just like Pax! Just like I knew I would!" Dylan followed the voice, trying to find Rommie in the maze. He wished he'd brought his forcelance with him: he could have used its built-in scanner to find her.  
  
The rest of the crew waited on the balcony overlooking the gardens. Tyr could just about make out Dylan's voice, but not well enough to tell what he was saying. The big Nietzschean turned to Beka, "Maybe we should return to the Maru, let them sort it out between them?" Beka was taken aback, "Well, well, well Mr Anasazi: I never took you for the romantic type!" Tyr glared at her, "I mealy believe that being round a emotionally unstable Avatar why could rip your arms from their sockets is not a good survival trait." Harper sighed, "Ahh, the Tyr we all know and love to hate."  
  
Dylan was hopelessly lost in the maze, and no closer to finding Rommie, "Rommie, we really need to talk about this face to face!" "Ok then." The voice came from just behind him and made him jump. He span round to find Rommie standing less than a meter away from him, tears filling her eyes. He tried to put a hand on her arm, to comfort her, but she pulled away, "What do you want to talk about?" Dylan sighed, "About what happened. I need to know how you feel about me." Fresh tears welled up in Rommie's eye, "I, that is, Andromeda has loved you since before The Fall. She never said anything because there was nothing she could do. Then Harper built me. I am Andromeda, the ship made flesh, and I have the same emotions and feelings as my main AI, but with me there was always the possibility of acting on them." Rommie sat down on a bench, hugging herself, "After the busyness with the singularity and the teleporter, I knew that your dedication to the Commonwealth was stronger than any attachment to another person. I tried to bury my feelings for you: the incident with Gabriel was part of it. Andromeda knew that, and tried to tell me, but I didn't want to believe her."  
  
Dylan sat down next to Rommie, trying to take in what she had said, "I knew that you had feelings for me, but I never knew how strong they where. I mean are!" Rommie nodded, "Well, I could always get a job acting if I needed to." She moved further along the bench, away from Dylan, "And now it's all out in the open, there is only one course of action open: you have to dismantle me." Her statement shocked Dylan, "What makes you say that?" Rommie turned to look at him, her eyes full of pain, "High Guard directives concerning AI and superior officers: It's ether that or you have to re-boot Andromeda's AI. I won't have her suffer for my mistake." Dylan shook his head, "What mistake?" Rommie sobbed, "Falling in love."  
  
TBC 


	4. Self analysis

Face the Music, part 4  
  
Dylan was completely overwhelmed by what had been said: he had known Andromeda for four years, not counting the time spent frozen by the singularity, and he had never once guessed the depth of her true feelings for him. But now certain things became clear: Andromeda occasional coldness to Beka, Rommie's tendency to smile whenever he was around, the fact that she always stood as close to him as she could. Had he really been so stupid as not to notice all of that? He turned to her, "We better get back to the Maru. We can discuss this on Andromeda." Without saying a word, Rommie stood at walked from the maze. Dylan followed her so not to get lost, but found himself keeping his distance.  
  
Rommie was still crying to herself. Why had she told him everything? She could have lied, made up a story to cover her actions. But no: she had let it all come out. What will Andromeda say? The main AI had carefully hidden her feelings for Dylan for years, and now he knew everything. Not only had she alienated her captain, but also herself. She wished Rev Bem had not gone on sabbatical: somehow the monk always knew what to say to make things right.  
  
The rest of the crew where silent when they reached the Maru. Rommie locked herself in the crew-quarters while Dylan sat quietly at the mess table. The trip back to the Andromeda was silent apart from Beka's request for clearance from air-traffic control. Subdued, they walked from the hanger deck and headed for their own quarters, each deep in thought. Dylan followed Rommie, hoping that they could talk more in the privacy of her quarters, but the hatched closed in his face.  
  
Rommie sank to the floor, crying. Andromeda's holographic form appeared before her, "You told him then." It was more of a statement than a question. Rommie nodded, unable to find the words. The hologram knelt down beside Rommie, "I know how you are feeling, and what you said to Dylan about ending this. Did you really mean it?" Rommie looked up, "Is there any other way of handling it?" the hologram shrugged, "I don't know." The main AI appeared on the display screen, "How could you tell him?" The hologram turned round, "Can't you see she's hurting?" The AI glared, "And you think Dylan isn't?" The hologram stood, "You always take his side!" The AI bilked, "I always take his side? You're me! So is she! WE always take Dylan's side." It was the holograms turn to glare, "Only because of the feelings YOU developed for Dylan!"  
  
Rommie screamed through the tears, "SHUT-UP! SHUT-UP! SHUT-UP! The pair of you! Just leave me alone!" shocked, the hologram blinked out and the main AI vanished from the screen.  
  
TBC 


	5. All that maters

Face the Music, part 5  
  
Dylan sat on his bunk, his head in his hands. Could what Rommie said be true? Could Andromeda have had these feelings for him all this time? Why hadn't he noticed before?  
  
And above all: Why had he kissed Rommie?  
  
He wished Rev Bem were there: He had always turned to the Magog when he faced difficult decisions. He gave up, "Andromeda." The ship's hologram appeared against the far wall, her eyes down cast, "You wanted to talk to me?" Dylan stood warily, "Why didn't you ever tell me how you felt?" Andromeda blushed, "And say what: Dylan, I know it brakes all sorts of rules and protocols, but I love you? What good would that have done?" Dylan shrugged, "You could have said that Rommie had feelings for me." Andromeda looked him straight in the eye, "You don't get it, and do you? I AM Rommie, and she is me! And right now she's on the floor of her quarters, crying her eyes out, ready to die because of what happened! There is a difference between the two of us, and that difference is she has more feelings and emotions than me: Harper built that into her."  
  
Dylan sat back down, "I'm not going to dismantle her: It's not her fault." He reached over to the com-unit, "Trance, can you come to my quarters please?" Trance seemed uncertain, "Ok." Dylan turned to Andromeda; "You better leave us in privacy mode." The hologram nodded and blinked out. A few minuets later, there was a knock at the door, "Dylan, it's me, Trance." Dylan opened the door and motioned Trance to enter. He sat down at his desk and turned to the young alien, "Normally I'd ask Rev Bem for advice, but he's not here, and you the next best thing." Trance seemed kind of hurt, "Gee, thanks Dylan. What do you want to talk about?" Dylan sighed, "About what happened with Rommie. How do I deal with this? What do I do?" Trance looked at him, "Why did you kiss her?" Dylan leaned back in his chair, "It just felt, I don't know, right I suppose." Trance looked at him, seemingly confused, "So what's the big problem? You like Rommie, and Rommie likes you. Shouldn't you be happy?"  
  
Dylan sighed, "It's not that simple Trance: the High Guard has rules about this sort of thing. It can course trouble." Trance smiled at him, "But Dylan, the High Guard is just you and Rommie. If you both feel like this, how can it be wrong?" Dylan started pacing the room, "But if I'm going to rebuild the Commonwealth, I have to stick to its rules and laws." Trance stood in fount of him, stopping him in his tracks, "Do you love Rommie?" Dylan blinked, "Yes."  
  
Trance smiled, "Then that's all that maters."  
  
TBC 


	6. The note

Face the Music, part 6  
  
The next morning, Beka, Tyr, Trance and Heaper sat at a table in the mess hall, discussing the events of the night before. Beka turned to Trance, "So Dylan admitted to you that he loves Rommie?" Trance nodded, "And right after that, he asked me to leave." Tyr shook his head, "What douse he hope to gain be staring a relationship with an Android?" Beka looked at him, "Not everyone thinks like a Nietzschean Tyr: some of us have what we call 'emotions', and these 'emotions' can be very strange and powerful things." Tyr glared at her, "I know full what emotions are, but what is the point? They can't start a family." He fell silent as Dylan entered the room.  
  
The other also fell quiet, watching him from the corner of their eyes. He collected his tray and walked to a table at the far end of the room, his back to them. Harper raised his eyebrow, "Has anyone seen Rommie this morning?" The others exchanged glances. Beka sighed, and led the way to Rommie's quarters. Trance knocked on the door, "Rommie, are you in there?" Silence. Beka tried, "Rommie, is there anything you want to talk about?" Again, they where met with silence. Harper pulled an override from his pocked at placed it over the hatch controls. The door opened, revelling an empty room. Trance picked up a piece of paper from the table and read it to the others: "Dear Dylan, I know I can't change the way I feel for you, and that you won't order my dismantling, so I've decided to take matters into my own hands. Goodbye. Love, Rommie." Beka grabbed the note and ran back to the mess hall.  
  
Dylan was sipping his coffee when Beka handed him the note. He scanned it, and his face went white. He stood bolt upright, "Andromeda!" The hologram appeared before him, "Yes?" He held up the note so she could read it, "Where is she?" The hologram blinked, "In the engine room, above the exotic- matter reactor." The holograms eyes went wide, "Dylan, she's going to jump!" Dylan moved at a speed he'd never before accomplished, even in the midst of battle.  
  
He ran along the corridors, and slid down the ladders that lead to the engine room. The hatchway opened before him, and he stopped cold: Rommie stood on a gantry high above the reactor core, looking down into the swirling cauldron of energy. He gasped, "Rommie!" the Avatar turned to face him, "It's the only way Dylan." He started to climb the ladder that led up to the gantry, "No Rommie, it's not!" he slowly stood on the narrow access way, "I spoke to Trance last night, and she helped me to realise that I love you!" Rommie looked at him, tears filling her eyes, "You're only saying that to stop me from jumping." Dylan took a careful step towards Rommie, "You know me better than that. If I just wanted you to come back down, I would have ordered you too." He took her hand, "If you jump, I jump. I love you Rommie."  
  
Rommie didn't know what to say: he loved her! He had risked his life to reach her, and had admitted it her face that he loved her. She tried to speak, but words failed her. She turned to face him, but slipped and fell from the gantry.  
  
TBC. 


	7. All or nothing

Face the Music, part 7  
  
Dylan saw Rommie's foot slip, and tightened his grip on her hand. The force of her fall pulled him off his feet, and he found himself gripping tightly to the gantry with one hand, while the other held Rommie with equal intensity. He looked down, and saw that she hung only meters from the pulsating slipstream core. He gritted his teeth tightly, "Hold on!" Rommie looked up at him, "Let go! It's the only way your be able to pull yourself back up!" Dylan shook his head, "I'm not letting you go!"  
  
Rommie reached up to his hand with her other arm, and started to pull his fingers apart. Dylan screamed, "No! Rommie, don't!" She looked up at him, tears filling her eyes, "I'm not going to let you die trying to save me." Dylan found himself beginning to cry, "If you fall, I'll let go! I can't live without you!" Rommie stopped, "What about rebuilding the Commonwealth?" Dylan shook his head, "What's the point of rebuilding civilization if the one I love is not there to share it with me?"  
  
Rommie was shocked: Dylan was willing to give up his mission for her! Before, when he was given the chance to go back in time and be with Sera, he had given it up to continue rebuilding the Commonwealth. She was about to reply when Dylan's grip on the gantry weakened, threatening to drop them both into the reactor. She started to loosen his finger again, desperate to relive him of her weight before his grip on the gantry gave way.  
  
She had almost succeeded in removing his hand from her wrist when the engine room was filled with the sound of klaxons and alarm going off. There was a loud thud, and the reactor core fell away from below her. A huge metal hatch closed across floor. Dylan turned to see Harper at the engineer's station, grinning for ear to ear. Huge hands gripped Dylan under the shoulders, and Tyr pulled with all his strength, pulling Dylan back up to the gantry. Dylan immediately pulled Rommie up after him. Tyr look at them, "If you two have quite finished, we have a slip-drive to recover."  
  
Dylan didn't pay Tyr any attention: Instead he leaned over and kissed Rommie. She returned the kiss eagerly, and nether of them noticed Tyr and Harper walk off, Harper smiling, Tyr shaking his head in utter disbelief.  
  
TBC. 


	8. A perfect moment

Face the Music, part 8  
  
Rommie was, for the fist time in her short life, content.  
  
It had been a long day: recovery and re-attachment of the Slipstream core had taken over 8-hours, and drove Harper to tears at one point. Rommie had spent several additional hours talking with Andromeda's AI. They had come to an agreement: Rommie was, and always would be, Andromeda's Avatar, but when she was with Dylan, the main AI would leave her alone. She could sense that Andromeda was less than happy with that agreement, but it was the only way the situation could ever work.  
  
The rest of the crew were different: Tyr had seemed confused by the entire thing, but wished them happiness none the less. Trance had been ecstatic for them, say how they where perfect for each other. Beka was also happy for them, but seemed slightly uneasy with it. Harper said he was happy, but Rommie knew he was upset that she had chosen Dylan over her engineer and creator, but he would no doubt bounce back.  
  
Rommie moved her head slightly to look at Dylan: he was asleep in his bed. Their bed now. It had been a long day, but that had not stopped them from consummating their relationship, several times in fact. Rommie stretched one arm across Dylan's chest, and pulled herself closer to the man she loved. She could feel the warmth of his body next to hers, could feel the steady rising and lowering of his chest as he breathed, could hear his heartbeat. She smiled.  
  
There were still questions that had to be addressed: could they ever have a formal marriage? What would people say when their relationship became widely known? Would people change their view on joining the Commonwealth out of some objection to their relationship? There was hundreds of questions like that they needed to address, but now was not the time. Maybe tomorrow? Or the day after? Perhaps not.  
  
She reached up and kissed him on the cheek as he slept. She gently rested her head on his shoulder and went to sleep herself.  
  
A perfect moment may only last a moment, but sometimes, that's long enough.  
  
The end. 


End file.
